September 18, 2009

Why is MoveOn carrying water for health insurance companies?

The 'reform' loudly supported by MoveOn would deliver tens of millions of new customers to healthcos via mandates, pump $1 trillion of subsidies from the public till directly to them, and install costly new limits on medical loss prevention that will raise insurance prices yet further. At the expense of taxpayers and policy holders, this kind of 'reform' will increase revenues and profits for insurers. No wonder Harry and Louise are all for it, and Wall Street greeted Obama's speech with a sharp rise in healthco stock prices.

The 'public option' has already been stifled in its crib by the healthcos, who know they have nothing to fear from it. The constant din about it from MoveOn, Obama, Howard Dean and others therefore only serves the interests of the healthcos, by distracting attention from what they truly do fear: single-payer Medicare For All, HR 676.

If single-payer Medicare For All is 'politically impossible', then so is the noisily championed 'robust public option'. Either would kill the healthcos, so they must prevent both, if they can. A 'public option' is easier for them to handle, since they don't have to kill it entirely, just render it harmless by limiting it to a small percentage of potential buyers. That's already done, so passing a bill with something called a 'public option' suits them just fine. Meanwhile, they are happy to continue opposing it in sham debate - anything to keep attention away from extending Medicare to cover everyone, which they must keep 'off the table' at all costs.

Obama and Dean have spread the false notion that single payer supporters who want Medicare extended to cover everyone are a small fringe group on the far left. On the contrary, they are a majority of all voters and physicians. The US Conference of Mayors - hardly a fringe group - voted unanimoulsy last year to support single-payer HR 676. Other supporters include state legislatures, many religious, medical, nursing and social groups, hundreds of unions including the AFL/CIO, even Obama's long-time personal physician, and a very large majority of Democrats.